Gold and Black Radio: Latest on Purdue hoops and more

GoldandBlack.com’s Brian Neubert, fresh off a weekend in Council Bluffs, Iowa, watching some of Purdue’s top prospects, breaks it all down with host Derek Schultz. This and more on the latest in Purdue men’s basketball in our May 20, 2025, edition of Gold and Black Radio.

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Purdue and Spring Basketball recruiting

An excerpt from Brian Neubert’s Three Thoughts column

ON SPRING COLLEGE BASKETBALL RECRUITING

Funny thing about these college basketball recruiting events like I just spent the weekend covering: They’ve always smelled like money, but now it’s just all out in the open.

Coaches who used to whisper and backbite about this school getting this kid for X amount of dollars now openly discuss it, because it’s normal now.Continue watchingCooking at its finestafter the ad

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The athletes are getting what they deserve in the context of the economy of college basketball but in the context of the rules as they long stood, the bad guys won, if there was ever such a thing as “bad” guys. The moral and ethical ambiguity of college basketball was really interesting but now the money’s all out there in the open until DeLoitte pushes back it back under the table and into more hushed tones again.

Those who were illegally buying players with impunity all along, the schools who were ready to roll as soon as NIL came around — they’re not hard to ID — they didn’t necessarily win here, because now that everyone’s players are getting paid, that leveled the playing field some. You can look around and find some real good examples of name brands in college football and college basketball who haven’t done so hot since the money came out into the daylight and some measure of parity came with it. If it gets forced back into the darkness, the bagman staffer/wiretap guy will again get his chance to do his thing, but in the meantime, there aren’t all that many pockets turned inside out to fill at the high-major level.

I think it is important to note the distinction between “buying” players and compensating them based on the market and their achievements. Braden Smith is going to make a ton of money this season, as he should considering he’s a first-team All-American, one of college basketball’s real stars, and a marketable individual. But during this spring in which players went for airport prices, he could have gotten more someplace else, yes. This weekend, as a story went, one staffer at a school that was ready to mess with Smith expressed surprise he didn’t chase the money, obviously oblivious the fact that sometimes players want to be where they are happy and content. What a pathetically nihilistic view to think otherwise, but that’s what college basketball is full of now.

It reminds of the long-term viability of Purdue’s model, of building relationships, gauging fit and breeding loyalty during recruiting, then being honest and fair with people thereafter. Money is a big deal, yes, and Purdue is fine in that regard, but the people who are out there beating their chests over their war chests and recruiting to numbers instead of people, they’re missing the plot here.